


when the moon is round and full

by blackglass, sabinelagrande



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Audio Format: MP3, Audio Format: Streaming, Community: pod_together, Curses, F/M, Hunters & Hunting, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 20-30 Minutes, Post-Campaign 1 (Critical Role), Werewolf Percy de Rolo, e094-e095 Timeskip (Critical Role)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-06-12 06:09:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15333522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackglass/pseuds/blackglass, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sabinelagrande/pseuds/sabinelagrande
Summary: A white wolf stalks the woods outside of Whitestone, and Vex just can't stay away.[Podfic AND story text within]





	when the moon is round and full

  
  
Cover art by: [Frea_O](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Frea_O)  


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_It leaves. Two-feet takes it away from people, and it emerges, runs out into the night. It remembers this place, even if the sharp smell of desecration lingers, slow to lift. It is tied to this land, will always come back here no matter what. It learned everything here, and though it was forced away, it never will be again._

_The forest is old and familiar, but the prey is fertile and fresh, unaccustomed to the predator that has been so long gone. Other things range, but this wood belongs to it like it does not to them. They will see and make way, because only it deserves this place._

_This wood is full of what it craves, food and moonlight and freedom. Runs and runs and runs, catching animals in its jaws and devouring them, relearning the feel of the earth beneath its paws. Runs until the moon is low in the sky again, almost slipping away._

_It howls, and the sound echoes, high and piercing and lonely, cracking the night._

It isn't important how Vex knows. 

It is of course important that Vex knows, but she knows like anyone knows; Percy goes missing, Percy seems nervous on certain nights, Percy has a guilt about him even after Whitestone is liberated. This is how things go, when you're dealing with secrets and the people who keep them.

And yet, Vex isn't bold or quick enough to confirm her suspicions until they're already living in Whitestone. There's just been so much, so quickly, and Percy's secrets don't matter as much as getting through it; in the end, they don't even matter as much as taking him to her bed.

But there's time now, and when Percy sneaks off into the woods under the light of a bright, rising moon, Vex trails him. He's easily tracked, and she follows him to a clearing, the moonlight shining down strongly around them. He's undressing, his coat and ascot laid aside as he unbuttons his shirt and shrugs it off.

"So," Vex says, and Percy startles, whipping around to face her.

"You can't be here," he says, looking pale even for him.

"You could tell me," she says, feeling annoyed. "All you have to do is open your mouth and say the words. Say 'Vex, let me explain,' and everything will be fine."

"I can't," Percy says. "I would if I could, but that's just not possible."

He's breathing heavily now, and she almost relents; she wonders if she's giving him a panic attack. "Stop it, Percival," she snaps. "If nothing else, I'm your friend. Something could happen to you and I need to know where to find your body."

Percy laughs humorlessly, clutching his stomach. "If you don't leave, you're not going to like what happens," he says. "That isn't a threat, just a statement of fact."

"What are you going to do to stop me?" she asks, taking a step forward. 

The miserable look on his face almost makes her stand down. "Draw your bow," he says.

She frowns. "What?"

"Nock an arrow," he says. "And when the time comes, don't hesitate."

Vex has no idea what's going on, but she's so worried that she has no choice but to do as he says. It's the last coherent thing he says; she watches as his body starts to change, hair sprouting suddenly from every surface as his form distorts. What little he's wearing is ripped apart as, with a sickening sound, his limbs reorient themselves. He falls forward, and before he hits the ground, his hands turn into massive paws.

Because where Percy was, there is now a massive beast, as big as a dire wolf. All of its thick fur is stark white, and it shakes its head, snorting. It lets out a long howl before turning its attention to Vex.

_Woman. Arrow. Threat. Its hackles raise, and the woman's grip tightens._

__"No," _other-voice says. It almost never hears other-voice, the sound of two-feet. It doesn't fear other-voice, but it is startled, and when startled, it runs._

The wolf takes off, crashing through the underbrush, gone in a white blur.

"Oh, Percy," Vex says, and she loosens her death grip on the bow and lets her arrow drop.

Then she shakes herself, picks up the arrow, and runs.

_It doesn't run, like a scared animal, but the hunter is behind it still. Her shouting hits its ears, following and following until it finally dies away._

_It looks up. Moon is setting. It snorts in anger. A night wasted, and why?_

It takes some doing to carry Percy back after Vex finds him, crumpled on the forest floor; Vex is not physically strong, and he's passed out cold, nothing but dead weight. It's a feat of stealth to get one naked de Rolo back into her still partially unfinished house, especially when there's an arcanist and a robot in the opposite wing, but she manages it, putting him into her bed and leaving him there.

When he eventually comes to, Vex is sitting beside him. He's somehow clean, though his fur was full of dirt and twigs when Vex was tailing him. He blinks when he rouses, looking up at her, and he looks as hazy as he always does when he wakes, running a hand through his hair as he comes back to himself.

After a moment, he seems to remember to be surprised. "Vex," he says, and he backs away from her, as much as he can without falling out of bed.

"Calm down, darling," Vex says, a hand on his knee. "It's just the two of us."

"I didn't want you to see," he says.

"We're past that," she says. "I don't regret seeing."

"I suppose I can explain now," he says.

"Did Ripley do this to you?" Vex asks gingerly.

Percy shakes his head. "To the best of my knowledge, Ripley never found out. I'd be long dead if she had."

"You don't look like the werewolves in the Feywild," she says.

"It's not like that," he says. "It's an old family curse."

"You do make a very handsome wolf," she says. "Lovely coat."

"You're supposed to be more afraid of this than you are," Percy says. "Far be it from me to complain, but it just makes me wonder if you've really thought about it."

"I raised a bear as my child," Vex says. "Like hell I'm going to kill someone I love over a silly little thing like being a werewolf."

"You are more equipped than most," he says. He looks like he wants to say something else, but in the end, he just sighs. "I'm very tired."

She kisses his forehead. "Then rest," she says.

And it's strangely easy not to talk about it, though Vex sometimes wants to pepper him with questions. Vex doesn't think not talking about it is a good sign, but maybe it's not a negative sign either. Maybe Percy feels better just knowing he doesn't have to hide it; maybe he's working up to telling her that things are ruined now that she's seen what he probably thinks is his worst. Still, she continues to mark the passage of the moon, and whether he notices that is up to him.

But the full moon comes back around, and Vex misses her chance. She doesn't know he's leaving until she sees him out the window, already making his way towards the forest. By the time she puts on her armor and follows, she's lost the trail.

She stays up half the night worrying. He's gotten along so far without being captured or killed, but she can't unthink it now, that at any point someone might. If she can track him, there are others who can, maybe even better than she can do it. A wolf that size would be quite the trophy, and someone clocking him as a lycanthrope would be even worse.

She never knew the scariest part of finding out her boyfriend turned into a giant wolf would be the thought of the wolf being injured.

Thankfully, he's whole when he drags himself to breakfast. He scans the room before he sits, looking to Vex before he says anything.

"Tary left for the bakery already," she says. "We're alone."

He looks relieved as he sits. She sees him weigh it, trying to act like nothing is wrong even though Vex already knows, and she sees him give in, eating ravenously and gulping down three cups of coffee.

"My apologies," he says, as he wipes his mouth.

"If that's the least civilized thing you've done in the last twenty-four hours, we're all doing fine," she says.

"It really wasn't," he says. "Unfortunately."

"We should go hunting sometime," Vex says.

Percy gives her a wary look. "Vex, when I'm like that, I'm completely out of control. I'm not anything like Trinket."

"Have you ever tried?" she asks.

The question clearly catches him off-guard. "What?"

"Are you uncontrollable, or is it just that you've never made the effort?" Vex says.

"I don't quite know how to answer that," he says. "I don't know how the wolf feels about it, but if I thought I could be tamed, I'd do it."

"It's hard and it's dangerous and I know that," Vex says, reaching over and putting a hand over his. "It's just that I care about you more than I care about things being dangerous or hard."

He turns his hand under hers, so he can lace their fingers together. "You really are extraordinary." He sits back, pouring himself another cup of coffee with his free hand, and Vex predicts a spate of well-caffeinated tinkering; Tary will certainly enjoy that. His hand stills on his coffee cup. "It almost feels gauche to say this, but you do know you can never tell another soul, don't you?"

"It's not my secret to tell," she says.

He either doesn't notice or approves of that small bit of linguistic trickery, because he looks relieved. "I think it's best if you just don't tell me your plans," he says. "It's not like I can communicate them to the wolf anyway. Once in a very rare while I may be able to get a word or two in, but that's all."

"Don't worry, darling," she says. "I'll just-"

The door opens, startling the both of them, and Tary appears, flour streaking his coiffed blond hair, a smudge under his eye of what is probably cinnamon. "There you are," he says to Vex. "It's an emergency."

Vex sighs, but she doesn't think this is the worst place to end this conversation. "Well, I have to know what kind of emergency in a bakery doesn't begin and end with the fire brigade."

"It involves snickerdoodles," Tary says. "So many snickerdoodles."

She kisses Percy briefly, then lets go of his hand and pushes back her chair. "Well, you'd better show me," she says.

And this time, she tracks the moon much more carefully, ticking the days off, and when Percy heads out into the forest, she follows immediately.

_It knows the woman has followed. Quiet, but not silent, the scent of her and bear obvious against the forest air. Easy to lead her into a trap or just turn and eat her, but it wants to know why she comes back._

_Circles back, making for a small clearing it knows well. Moon is bright, hanging low in the sky, and it waits to see what she will do._

_She steps out of the forest, bow drawn, bear well behind. It growls, and she makes a show of putting bow and arrow away. This is the moment, where she's easy prey, but it doesn't strike. Will devour her just as easily later._

_The woman waves her hands, saying human words, and something clarifies in its head. It's impossible to say if it speaks like her or the opposite, but the words snap into focus._

__"I'm not going to ask to speak to Percy," _she says._ "I suspect he's not in."

"Two-feet is gone," _it says._ "Speak to me or no one." __

 __"You are a bit more imposing than Percy, but he probably wouldn't appreciate that," _she says, looking it over._

 __"You try my patience," _it says._

 __"Fine, fine," _she says._ "I have a proposition for you." __

_It sizes her up, looking for her weaknesses; compared to it, she is weak, nothing but a few snaps of its jaws away from being a meal. But she stands fearless, waiting. It finds that interesting._

_It sits back on its haunches._ "I will listen," _it says, curious._

 __"I'd like to take you hunting," _she says._ "Just you, me, and my bear. No strings attached." __

 __"What is your quarry, half-elf?" _it asks._

 __"Nothing in particular," _she says._ "I hear there are dire boars to the south this time of year." __

_It ponders this. Dire boars have a foul, fatty meat, but are satisfying to kill when they stand between it and better prey. It can easily end them with no help. It sees this for an overture, an opening to wedge into, but it is as curious as two-feet, just smarter about it._

__"Keep up," _it says._ "I will not stop." __

_With that it turns and bounds into the forest. Its ears are keen enough to hear her following, even over the sound of branches snapping against its body. She shouts a command, and before long bear is beside it, keeping pace. They travel deeper and deeper into the woods, until almost all human-scent is gone, nothing left but the one bright spot of the woman behind him._

She doesn't know how much Percy knows; she's aware that the wolf's time comes to him in fits and starts, just unsettling images of gore and trees. Either way, he doesn't ask, even if he realizes she's been going out to meet the wolf every full moon for the last four months. 

It hasn't eaten her yet, which is a good sign. She's been testing how close she can get, how much the wolf will allow her. It hasn't been much; it will let her touch its fur now and again, but it just huffs when she tries to give it commands. Then again, four months is only four nights, so maybe she's signed up for a task that will take years. She has no idea whether that's a thing she can even do, but for now, she's in it.

_They can't always speak. There is a magic about her that does it, and it understands that it is somehow limited, only there in fits and snatches._

_They understand the same hunter-language. She cannot smell tracks, but she can study bent twigs, put her hand to the ground, follow footprints. It is the real hunter, but there are times when she sees things it doesn't._

_There is respect between them, but no further, even if sometimes they speak the same. This is what it thinks until they are deep in the woods one night, bear with them. It scouts ahead, but as it is examining a trail, it hears her whistle. She's done this before, but this time the sound strikes something in it, and it returns to her side._

_It's in front of her before it realizes what it's done. It recoils, turning and running. It hears her shout after it, but it has no intention of letting her think she controls it like that._

_Bear follows, lumbering after it. It is faster than bear, but it slows, turns to face him. It growls a warning, but bear sits, waits. It growls again, and bear growls back, unfazed._

_Bear is human-touched, can't understand. It is not human; two-feet is nothing but a suit it stuffs itself into. In its inhumanity is the drive to crush and kill, not the desire to serve a master, even another hunter._

_It can't be human-touched and free._

Percy looks pensive the day after the wolf's appearance; Vex is still beating herself up over her misstep, but she hasn't given up the fight. She wonders if he has some impression of it, some carry-over feeling, but she doesn't think it works that way.

They're sitting in Vex's library, leaning against each other as they both read; Tary and Doty have just gone to bed, and everything is comfortably quiet.

"My father wasn't told until after Julius was born," Percy says, still looking down at his book.

"What?" Vex says.

He looks up. "It's from the Klossowskis, not the de Rolos. My uncle was the last one before me, and after he-" He stops, choosing his words. "There was an incident with some hunters, and it was though the curse was satisfied," he says. "And all of the wolves were male, so if my parents only ever had girls, my father never needed to know."

"So she waited all that time?" she asks. "That doesn't seem fair."

Percy shrugs. "I think it only made him determined to love his children more." He looks down again. "I still scared him. I don't think he realized I knew that, and I hope he never did."

She pushes away from him, turning to put her hands on either side of his face. "Percival, darling," she says. "I fear for you constantly, but I have never feared you."

He closes his eyes, resting against her hand. "You are perhaps the only person who has ever said that to me."

She kisses him, slowly, lingering on it. "Come to bed," she says. "Let me do more than say it."

"As my lady wishes," he says, and she takes him by the hand and leads him away.

_And yet the hunter comes back, even when it holds itself apart, does not let her think she controls it. She accepts this, or else bides her time, but it allows her to come to it every moon, even enjoys her presence._

_It paces around the clearing. Does not take waiting easily, not when it spends so much time waiting for two-feet to leave. All the time it spends free and not hunting is wasted, the precious seconds dripping away._

_Finally she appears, already casting her spell to bring their thoughts in line._ "We lose time," _it says, but she doesn't draw her bow, doesn't agree to leave._

 __"I haven't spoken to Percy in two weeks," _she says, and her voice is full of weakness._ "This might be the last time I see you, if he doesn't want me to stay in Whitestone." __

 __"I have no use for two-feet or his bad decisions," _it says. It has the strongest urge to protect her; two-feet has no right to make her feel weak, not when she's so strong._

 _She laughs._ "I like that about you," _she says._

 _It walks over to her, lowering its head and pushing on her, hard enough that she almost falls._ "We hunt," _it says, not giving her time to consider before walking into the forest, slowly enough that she can't say that she lost the trail._

_Two-feet is so useless, and it wants two-feet to remember that when he comes back. If he would push away even this strong and useful hunter, he deserves whatever befalls him. It wants, even more than usual, to be the only one of them. It would never do something so stupid._

But what actually happens is that they are apart for a grand total of sixteen days, then almost immediately get married. Maybe it looks like idiocy from the outside, but Vex is certain it's the smartest decision she ever made.

She looks over at her new husband, her same old Percy, and she wonders what will happen to their children. She's firm on having plenty, despite Percy's concerns about the wolf. Maybe none of them will be boys, and it will never matter, or maybe she'll have another cub to raise.

She still isn't scared.

_In between two moons, things happen to two-feet and the hunter. It sees only flashes, but when she comes next, she smells different, crisp like the apple-scent near hallowed ground. It only makes her stronger, whatever divine-thing is on her, but that doesn't stop what happens the moon after._

_They have a worthy opponent, finally, a wandering giant who strays too far. It and bear harry the thing while she shoots, perched on her flying stick. The giant is tiring, losing blood, but it stays alert, strikes with precision and great violence, as is its strength._

_She cries out, but it sees the kill at the next moment, going low as the giant lashes out, using the opening to drive it to the ground and rip out its throat. It only looks up from its now dead prey when bear growls, distracting it from the warm blood of the giant._

_The hunter is crumpled on the ground, her stick underneath her, and she does not move. It tries to say her name, but the human words are gone. Pushes instead, rolls her onto her back. The scent of blood is thick, but she's alive. Only moments now until she is the same as the giant, just an object._

_She will not die like that._

_Growls a warning to bear, who runs forward, unburdened and faster. Sinks its teeth into her armor. The dragon-leather pulls away from her body, but doesn't break; that's enough._

Vex wakes up in the castle, and she only sort of recognizes the only other person in the room. She's a healer, one of the clerics of the Dawnfather who study in Whitestone now that his worship is flourishing here again.

"Easy," she says, when Vex tries to sit up, guiding her back down. "You're out of the woods, but take it slow."

Vex swallows. "Is Lord Percival here?" she asks, the formality feeling somehow comfortable, insulating her.

"I'll get him directly," she says. "You just stay put."

The woman quickly checks the bandage on Vex's stomach; she must see what she wants to see, because she leaves. Percy appears in the doorway almost as soon as she's gone, and he rushes in, taking Vex's hand.

"Vex'ahlia," he sighs. "I- I really have no idea what happened, and I've been questioned about it all morning."

Vex laughs, even though it hurts in her midsection. "I think I know what happened, and I couldn't tell anyone even if they asked."

"They will, at length," he says, brushing her hair back. "So if you need a good lie, now is the time to concoct one." He squeezes her hand. "I take it you were out with our mutual acquaintance last night."

"I don't think you know each other even a little," she says.

"Honestly, that's fair enough," he says. 

"I have a confession to make," Vex says. She puts a hand to Percy's face. "I never could tame you."

His eyes widen in horror. "If I did this-"

She shakes her head. "The last thing I remember is a giant knocking me out of the air."

"Then how did you get back here?" he asks. "Trinket came running and they found you near the edge of the woods."

"Where did you wake up?" Vex says. "I'll wager it was nearer than usual."

Percy's brow furrows as he does the math. "Do you really think-"

"Yes," she says. "I really do."

He's silent for a long moment, his thumb rubbing absently over the back of her hand. "I don't think he's afraid of you either."

"I never gave him a reason to be," she says. "All I ever gave him was a chance not to be alone."

"Now that sounds familiar," Percy says, with the slightest of smiles.

\--

And under the light of the full moon, the Grand Mistress hunts, accompanied by her faithful bear and the dread white wolf. If Whitestone knows, it will only be in whispers, misinterpreted and changed with every telling, diluted until they are nothing at all.

One day the Grand Mistress will raise a cub, a little wolf who is sometimes a boy. It will range alongside its father, learn to hunt with its mother, and the curse will never be lifted as long as the least drop of Klossowski blood remains.

But what is a curse without its power? What is a curse that people do not fear? What is a curse when its only teeth are literal, when it is taken advantage of, when people weather it without being beaten down?

Does that make it a blessing?

Whatever it is, it runs in the wilds outside Whitestone, and it does so without fear.

**Author's Note:**

>  **blackglass:** Thanks to sabinelagrande for indulging my craving for a shifter Percy/Vex AU! I loved performing this story and collaborating with you is always a delight! Also, thanks to Frea_O for creating the cover art!
> 
> Music: "Wolf Like Me" cover by Lera Lynn
> 
>  **sabinelagrande:** Thanks in turn to blackglass! I ended up having, uh, maybe a lot to say about this story, so you can read my notes [over here on DW!](https://sabinetzin.dreamwidth.org/462493.html)


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